NDP MLA Bucley Belanger has held Athabasca since 1995. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

provincial election

‘Not the result we wanted’: Belanger sees rebranding for NDP

Oct 27, 2020 | 3:11 PM

NDP MLA Buckley Belanger, who won a seventh term in office Monday, believes the party will need to rebrand itself after a lackluster performance in the 2020 provincial election.

“I’m certain there will be a lot of changes in how we do our politics, how we get the message out and how we rebrand our party, so people are hearing exactly what we propose to do in the future,” he said. “The voters are never wrong. We have to simply continue working really hard and to provide a credible alternative to the Saskatchewan Party. It’s our job to provide that option for us to consider.”

The Sask. Party formed a majority government for the fourth consecutive time and, with mail-in ballots still need to be counted, are currently projected to take 50 seats in the Legislature. The NDP opposition will hold only 11.

NDP Leader Ryan Meili’s constituency of Saskatoon-Meewasin is also too close to call and will need to wait until the mail-in ballots are counted to declare a winner. Sask. Party candidate Rylund Hunter has 2,805 votes to Meili’s 2,722.

“I know Ryan worked very hard during the campaign. He also did really well in the debate,” Belanger said, adding he hopes Meili keeps his seat. “It’s something people in politics certainly recognize is we need to have a very strong leader to achieve some of the objectives of a political party, and Ryan worked hard and he was a strong leader.”

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Northern Saskatchewan had a high turnout for NDP supporters with Belanger taking 1,704 votes (56 per cent) compared to Sask. Party candidate Kelly Kwan’s 1,121. NDP MLA Doyle Vermette received 2,460 votes (65 per cent) compared to Sask. Party candidate Darren Deschambeault’s 1,173.

Belanger explained the NDP will need to do more work to relate to southern voters and there will be a period of rebuilding for the party.

“We still have to reach out and talk to people, and see exactly where we have to go,” he said. “Let’s not forget we came very, very close in a lot of seats. That’s certainly not the result we wanted, but we are going to get to work here and we’re not going to quit.”

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derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno